Obviously tragic news, but I'm not sure why this merits space on the BBC News homepage. There's no suggestion here that the cyclist did anything wrong and I'm sure that if she'd been hit by a bus or a car there would have been no interest in the story.

On a different note, I saw a guy riding in to work this morning on a track bike with no brakes. He was obviously too cool to stop at the lights and must have missed the news that riding a fixie without brakes massively increases your chance of going to jail _________________2016: Just riding my bike....
Hot Chillee ride captain (sponsored by Specialized, Sigma Sports, Wattbike, Le Marq, Wahoo, BOA, Sportique, Pro-Cycle Insurance, Maserati)

Obviously tragic news, but I'm not sure why this merits space on the BBC News homepage. There's no suggestion here that the cyclist did anything wrong and I'm sure that if she'd been hit by a bus or a car there would have been no interest in the story.

On a different note, I saw a guy riding in to work this morning on a track bike with no brakes. He was obviously too cool to stop at the lights and must have missed the news that riding a fixie without brakes massively increases your chance of going to jail

it's trendy, sadly, to be anti bike at the moment...
_________________www.appliedtri.co.uk Tri and Du coaching

Obviously tragic news, but I'm not sure why this merits space on the BBC News homepage. There's no suggestion here that the cyclist did anything wrong and I'm sure that if she'd been hit by a bus or a car there would have been no interest in the story.

On a different note, I saw a guy riding in to work this morning on a track bike with no brakes. He was obviously too cool to stop at the lights and must have missed the news that riding a fixie without brakes massively increases your chance of going to jail

Sad news, but one key point from the story is

Quote:

Two pedestrians were killed in collisions with cyclists across the UK in 2015.

That's a crap solution all round:
1. Path too narrow for shared pedestrian/cycle lane
2. Path too narrow for bus-stop and cycle lane or pedestrian lane
3. Bus stopping area in main carriage way of road causing hassle to everyone whenever a bus has to stop increasing the chances of collisions due to overtaking moves on stationary bus
_________________I'm an Enduroman, Greenman, Outlaw, Slateman, Titan and an idiot

18 months seems a tad harsh under the circumstances but him being a total twat at the trial and a lack of remorse didn't endear him to the judge which may have led to the sentence. I would have thought 2 years suspended would be sufficient but then the anti-cycling hang 'em high lobby would have been up in arms.
_________________And the lord said unto John; "come forth and receive eternal life." But John came fifth and won a toaster.

It's certainly set a precedent. I'm sure for any future collisions between cyclists and pedestrians, regardless of who is to blame, there'll be scrutiny of the legality/road worthiness of the bike, with families pushing for prosecution.
_________________2016: Just riding my bike....
Hot Chillee ride captain (sponsored by Specialized, Sigma Sports, Wattbike, Le Marq, Wahoo, BOA, Sportique, Pro-Cycle Insurance, Maserati)

Driver of unroadworthy vehicle kills pedestrian. Brakes found to be defective.

If that headline was for any other vehicle type then jail would seem reasonable. I don't like to admit it, but sentence is not totally unreasonable.

Defence could have been a bit more aggressive in blaming the inattentiveness of the pedestrian if that was really a contributory factor.

Need to see the CCTV footage before full facts are known.

My big problem with this is that if a motorist hit a pedestrian who stepped out in front of him at 18mph there would likely be no prison sentence regardless of the state of the vehicle, certainly not 18 months.

My big concerns in this case are not that this guy has been jailed for having a defective bike, but that he has been jailed for being a twat and using an obscure law out of the bounds of its original intentions which raises concerns over the sanctity of the law.
_________________I'm an Enduroman, Greenman, Outlaw, Slateman, Titan and an idiot

Driver of unroadworthy vehicle kills pedestrian. Brakes found to be defective.

If that headline was for any other vehicle type then jail would seem reasonable. I don't like to admit it, but sentence is not totally unreasonable.

Defence could have been a bit more aggressive in blaming the inattentiveness of the pedestrian if that was really a contributory factor.

Need to see the CCTV footage before full facts are known.

My big problem with this is that if a motorist hit a pedestrian who stepped out in front of him at 18mph there would likely be no prison sentence regardless of the state of the vehicle, certainly not 18 months.

My big concerns in this case are not that this guy has been jailed for having a defective bike, but that he has been jailed for being a twat and using an obscure law out of the bounds of its original intentions which raises concerns over the sanctity of the law.

I think the issue here is that the brakes were not "defective" because of poor maintenance (e.g. worn-out brake pads). The bike was illegal from the day it first touched the road. The defendant might have claimed that he didn't realise that the bike was illegal for the road, but his previous bike did have a front brake, which he took off and then clearly indicated on social media that he appreciated that this made the bike more dangerous.

This allowed the prosecution to paint a picture of him as a reckless adrenalin junkie who was acting irresponsibly on the public roads.
_________________2016: Just riding my bike....
Hot Chillee ride captain (sponsored by Specialized, Sigma Sports, Wattbike, Le Marq, Wahoo, BOA, Sportique, Pro-Cycle Insurance, Maserati)